LISA DiFRANZA
Artist. Educator. Curator.
Lisa started Sketch-a-Day in March 2020 when, due to the Covid-19 health crisis, she was laid off from her position as Cultural Curator at Art Ovation Hotel in Sarasota, Florida.
Lisa’s artistic drive comes naturally, being raised in NYC, in a family of artists. She remembers watching her dad sketch the characters and scenes in their neighborhood, and her parents encouraging Lisa to create her own artistic expressions.
Professionally, Lisa’s arts background is interdisciplinary. Her theater work spans multiple settings: She has served as Artistic Director of The Children’s Theater of Maine, Education/Literary Director at Portland Stage Company, and has directed numerous productions in Maine, Chicago, New York and Iowa. As an educator, Lisa taught students in visual, media and performing arts at Columbia College Chicago, served as the Founding Director of The Arts Academy, an innovative public high school arts program in Portland, Maine, and worked for five years on the production faculty of the Juilliard School Drama Division. In Chicago, Lisa created The Living News Project – a three year journalistic theater collaboration about homelessness in Chicago, supported by the City of Chicago, Illinois Humanities Council and aired on CAN-TV.
She has worked as a consultant for arts organizations in transition, and believes that the arts are essential to a thriving community. Lisa lives and creates in Downtown Bradenton, Florida.
Lisa DiFranza